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Board of Directors

Lives in the Balance is really fortunate to have a devoted group of parents, educators, and professionals guiding and overseeing its efforts.

Laura Baker, Ed.D.: Laura is Assistant Professor of Special Education at Westfield (Massachusetts) State College. She is a former principal and director of special education, as well as the former head of school at Greenfield Center School, the first school to embrace and implement the CPS model.

Pamela S. Charles, Ed.M.: Pam has worked for the Rockland County (NY) Board of Cooperative Educational Services for the past 24 years, holding positions as an Assistant Principal, Staff Development Trainer, and most recently Principal of the CBI-TECH High School.

Joan Durrant, Ph.D.: Joan is a Child Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor of Family Social Sciences in the Faculty of Human Ecology at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Durrant’s research focuses on the psychological, cultural, legal and human rights dimensions of corporal punishment of children in Canada and worldwide.

Laura Fuller, Ph.D.: Laura is a neuropsychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. She was instrumental in implementing the CPS model in her prior position at Shodair Children's Hospital, a residential and inpatient facility for children and adolescents in Helena, Montana.

Susan McCuaig: Susan is Principal at T.E. Scott School in Surrey, British Columbia, and is working to expand the influence of the CPS model beyond her school and into the community. Susan is also a panelist on the Lives in the Balance monthly Radio Program, Helping Behaviorally Challenging Students.

Susy Portin: Susy is the parent of three great kids, two of whom had emotional and behavioral challenges (that’s how she learned about and become a devotee of the CPS model and Lives in the Balance). She’s one of the co-hosts on the Parenting Your Challenging Child radio program, sponsored by Lives in the Balance.

Bartlett Stoodley: Barry is the former Associate Commissioner of Juvenile Services in the Department of Corrections in Maine, where he and his colleagues dramatically reduced rates of recidivism, use of solitary confinement, and staff and resident injuries through implementation of the CPS model and other non-punitive, non-adversarial approaches. He currently heads the Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group.